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Committee approves technical corrections moving veterinary licensing checks to Board of Animal Health
Summary
House Bill 13 54, an agency bill with technical fixes for veterinary licensing and criminal background checks, passed the Senate Agriculture Committee 9-0. The measure updates statute language so background check results can be released to the Board of Animal Health and clarifies registered/permitted categories per FBI guidance.
The Senate Agriculture Committee voted unanimously to advance House Bill 13 54, an agency-sponsored technical corrections bill that updates language related to veterinary licensing and criminal background checks.
Representative Aylesworth described the bill as a "technical correction" requested by the Board of Animal Health and the Board of Veterinary Medicine. Sarah Simpson, general counsel for the Board of Animal Health, told the committee the measure aligns state statute with current practice after the Board of Veterinary Medicine moved out of the Professional Licensing Agency.
"In 2022, the board of veterinary medicine ... was transitioned from the professional licensing agency to be co‑located with the newly created Center for Animal Policy," Representative Aylesworth said, explaining the administrative change. Simpson said the FBI reviewed the state's background‑check language after an earlier change and requested additional clarifications. The bill adds language so that criminal history record information may be released to the Board of Animal Health for registered and permitted applicants, explicitly requires state and national checks, and removes an "authorized agent" phrasing the FBI flagged.
Simpson said the changes do not alter practitioner requirements but ensure the state statute meets federal standards for who may receive background check information. She also said the Board worked with the Professional Licensing Agency and the state police on the revised language.
Committee members asked for clarifications on the administrative structure and whether the change would affect day‑to‑day licensing work; Simpson and Representative Aylesworth said the bill makes the process direct and transparent by routing checks to the board that now provides administrative support.
The committee approved the amended bill and moved it forward by roll call. The committee recorded a unanimous vote and the bill passed out of committee.
